Sacrifice
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:16-18
True love requires sacrifice.
To love God, you need to sacrifice your life and give up yourself for Him. The evidence of God’s love for us is that He sacrificed Himself for us. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13). Jesus came and died on a Cross for you, because to truly show God's love for you, it required sacrifice. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the love. Because God is love, by His very nature He freely gives himself. That is why Jesus gave up everything to come to earth, and that is why the Father gives Jesus the name above all other names and exalts him. To live like Jesus is to love like Jesus. Sometimes that means giving of yourself now; other times it means building yourself up so you can give more in the future. Jesus didn’t step into ministry as a youth because His “hour ha[d] not yet come.” (John 2:4). When it did come time to step into ministry and demonstrate God’s love towards us, He withheld nothing from sacrifice—even His own life.
There are no quick fixes in life.
Just as Jesus pursued the longer process of developing Himself before He sacrificed Himself. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52). Life is greater than death and only that which is alive can praise God (see Psalm 88:9-12). Thus the greatest sacrifice you can give is not a final, death sacrifice but a living sacrifice. Life by definition is not a once and done action but an ongoing process. So sacrifice requires the ongoing process of building up life in order to have something of substance to sacrifice. Sacrifice is not a quick fix for sanctification (1 Corinthians 13:3), for even salvation is not a quick fix; it requires the long process of discipleship. Avoid the temptation to look for a quick fix, and live your life to give the greatest sacrifice.
God's love, not your sin, drove him to the cross.
Sin does not motivate God to act. God is love (1 John 4:8), and His love motivates Him to act. He responds to sin in a way that is just, but sin does not have power over God to urge Him towards a certain kind of action. Because God is love, He sacrifices Himself on our behalf. He did not have to save us, but He did so because it gives Him pleasure to love. You do not have to sacrifice yourself, but you will find that your life has much more meaning when you do. Become a living sacrifice as you lay down your life for the brethren. Love by your actions not just by your words.